Secret Chambers and Hiding Places eBook

There is a secret chamber at the old Cumberland seat
of the ancient family of Senhouse. To this day
its position is known only by the heir-at-law and
the family solicitor. This room at Nether Hall
is said to have no window, and has hitherto baffled
every attempt of those not in the secret to discover
its whereabouts.

Remarkable as this may seem in these prosaic days,
it has been confirmed by the present representative
of the family, who, in a communication to us upon
the subject, writes as follows: “It may
be romantic, but still it is true that the secret has
survived frequent searches of visitors. There
is no one alive who has been in it, that I am aware,
except myself.” Brandeston Hall, Suffolk,
is also said to have a hiding place known only to two
or three persons.

CHAPTER XIII

CONCEALED DOORS, SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGES, ETC.

Numerous old houses possess secret doors, passages,
and staircases—­Franks, in Kent; Eshe Hall,
Durham; Binns House, Scotland; Dannoty Hall, and Whatton
Abbey, Yorkshire; are examples. The last of these
has a narrow flight of steps leading down to the moat,
as at Baddesley Clinton. The old house Marks,
near Romford, pulled down in 1808 after many years
of neglect and decay—­as well as the ancient
seat of the Tichbournes in Hampshire, pulled down
in 1803—­and the west side of Holme Hall,
Lancashire, demolished in the last century, proved
to have been riddled with hollow walls. Secret
doors and panels are still pointed out at Bramshill,
Hants (in the long gallery and billiard-room); the
oak room, Bochym House, Cornwall; the King’s
bedchamber, Ford Castle, Northumberland; the plotting-parlour
of the White Hart Hotel, Hull; Low Hall, Yeadon, Yorkshire;
Sawston; the Queen’s chamber at Kimbolton Castle,
Huntingdonshire, etc., etc.

A concealed door exists on the left-hand side of the
fireplace of the gilt room of Holland House, Kensington,
associated by tradition with the ghost of the first
Lord Holland. Upon the authority of the Princess
Lichtenstein, it appears there is, close by, a blood-stain
which nothing can efface! It is to be hoped no
enterprising person may be induced to try his skill
here with the success that attended a similar attempt
at Holyrood, as recorded by Scott![1]

[Footnote 1: Vide Introduction to The
Fair Maid of Perth]

In the King’s writing-closet at Hampton Court
may be seen the “secret door” by which
William III. left the palace when he wished to go
out unobserved; but this is more of a private
exit than a secret one.

[Illustration: WOODSTOCK PALACE, OXFORDSHIRE
(FROM AN OLD PRINT)]

[Illustration: MARKYATE CELL, HERTFORDSHIRE]

The old Chateau du Puits, Guernsey, has a hiding-hole
placed between two walls which form an acute angle;
the one constituting part of the masonry of an inner
courtyard, the other a wall on the eastern side of
the main structure. The space between could be
reached through the floor of an upper room.